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re: The anticipation I once felt for football season is gone
Posted on 7/29/26 at 8:02 am to Riseupfromtherubble
Posted on 7/29/26 at 8:02 am to Riseupfromtherubble
Its Minor League Football now.
Nobody has ever really cared much about minor league sports.
We have minor league baseball. Euros have all their minor soccer leagues. Racing has minor leagues in nascar and F1. And the one thing they all have in common is nobody really gives a shite on the grand scale.
Football was different because it was tied to the universities. But they've blown that all up. These players are hardly tied to the schools. They hardly go to class. They are employees paid to play football.
Nobody has ever really cared much about minor league sports.
We have minor league baseball. Euros have all their minor soccer leagues. Racing has minor leagues in nascar and F1. And the one thing they all have in common is nobody really gives a shite on the grand scale.
Football was different because it was tied to the universities. But they've blown that all up. These players are hardly tied to the schools. They hardly go to class. They are employees paid to play football.
This post was edited on 7/29/26 at 8:03 am
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Posted on 7/29/26 at 8:18 am to Riseupfromtherubble
quote:My general apathy is actually going beyond this. I canceled my YouTubeTV subscription and am debating not re-upping for football season.
This isn't a spoiled Bama fan soliloquy. My first memories are from the Stallings era, so my peak emotional investment was during some very dark years. It just feels like the overall product is a shell of what it used to be. I'll still tune in every Saturday, it just doesn't quite hit like it used to. Anyway else going through this?
Though I will need it for basketball season.
Posted on 7/29/26 at 8:19 am to Riseupfromtherubble
I think NIL is the biggest factor. No one is against the kids getting a piece of the pie, but when you have an average backup O-lineman making more money per year than the average fan struggling to buy tickets, it's frustrating.
Posted on 7/29/26 at 8:35 am to Riseupfromtherubble
This is the first season in the last 40 that I will not watch a single game.
Posted on 7/29/26 at 8:39 am to Dubosed
[embed]At least these guys have some spending money to go see a movie and hit up Taco Bell afterward.[/embed]
Spending money? Many of These guys can buy Taco Bell franchises now.
Spending money? Many of These guys can buy Taco Bell franchises now.
Posted on 7/29/26 at 9:18 am to My2Bits
Whoosh
Posted on 7/29/26 at 9:24 am to Riseupfromtherubble
I turn 74 in September, so having passed my “three score and ten,” I am trying to rekindle the enthusiasm I felt as a boy reading the newspaper reports from the Skywriters Tour, back when all we k ew was what those reporters told us about fall practice. Good old days.
Posted on 7/29/26 at 9:26 am to Riseupfromtherubble
Football has uniquely been effected by the portal and NIL but I refuse to be the guy that stops caring because we aren’t the Death Star anymore
I’m every bit as excited for hoops as I was 10 years ago
I’m every bit as excited for hoops as I was 10 years ago
Posted on 7/29/26 at 9:33 am to Glorious
quote:Personally, I'm not bothered by us not being the Death Star. More than anything, I don't like the lack of consistency year over year where you might remember more than 5-6 names on a roster. I'd imagine a lot of fanbases feel that way.
Football has uniquely been effected by the portal and NIL but I refuse to be the guy that stops caring because we aren’t the Death Star anymore
Posted on 7/29/26 at 9:36 am to UsingUpAllTheLetters
quote:
I don't like the lack of consistency year over year where you might remember more than 5-6 names on a roster. I'd imagine a lot of fanbases feel that way.
Yes football has absolutely felt the most changed. But I was fully locked in at this time last year when I thought we were gonna be really good
Posted on 7/29/26 at 9:45 am to UsingUpAllTheLetters
quote:
Personally, I'm not bothered by us not being the Death Star. More than anything, I don't like the lack of consistency year over year where you might remember more than 5-6 names on a roster. I'd imagine a lot of fanbases feel that way.
I don’t begrudge the players owning the marketability of their own person nor the concept that they’re entitled to compensation above full cost of enrollment when they play at a place like Alabama.
However we live in an arrangement with the sport that cannot last. Everything is too favorable to the player when the sport’s commercial viability is squarely driven by fan interest in the schools.
The idea that the player assets are entitled to nearly unfettered freedom of movement only makes sense if these sports were completely operating in the aspirational student athlete amateurism model. A student should be able to unenroll for Alabama and go to Montevallo if they want.
However, these top level revenue sport athletes are trying to have their cake and eat it too. They want the pay of high level commercial athletics but the freedom an anonymous student. No revenue generating commercial sports league allows such freedom of movement with their Human Resources because it is bad for fan interest that drives commercial viability.
This post was edited on 7/29/26 at 9:50 am
Posted on 7/29/26 at 10:16 am to Riseupfromtherubble
It doesn't excite me as much. Personally, the Big10 and SEC super mega sizing and laying waste to the old geographical conferences really diminished a lot of the appeal.
I'm actually all for players sharing in the huge profits but the way NIL works you feel like you're cheering for bank accounts as much as anything.
I'm actually all for players sharing in the huge profits but the way NIL works you feel like you're cheering for bank accounts as much as anything.
Posted on 7/29/26 at 10:21 am to Glorious
quote:
Football has uniquely been effected by the portal and NIL but I refuse to be the guy that stops caring because we aren’t the Death Star anymore
Agreed. My son has gotten to the age where he is obsessed with Bama like I was at his age and I cannot wait to take him to his first games this season. I took him down for Aday and the super regionals and he fell in love with everything there.
Posted on 7/29/26 at 10:36 am to wm72
quote:100% true.
you feel like you're cheering for bank accounts as much as anything
Posted on 7/29/26 at 10:54 am to Riseupfromtherubble
I’m not as involved or excited. That’s not to say I’ve given up tickets or anything. I’m just not calling sauces and trying to know every little thing. I’ll go to 4-5 games, cheer and leave.
Posted on 7/29/26 at 12:06 pm to Riseupfromtherubble
I honestly am more excited about Army football, and my sons seven U season than Alabama.
Posted on 7/29/26 at 12:16 pm to Riseupfromtherubble
Great post. Like many, I feel the same way and appreciate your candid reasoning.
Besides, like you mentioned, have a child, often changes your perspective of life, as it should.
One thing I will miss... is that environment for those kids growing up.
Both my daughters both grew up during the Saban Dynasty. Going to their schools, for public events, you could watch how many students and athletes were impacted and influenced by those in the Alabama program.
I recall watching skits of young people imitating Saban over the years. And I've told the story before ... meeting at least three families on flights to Birmingham. Families' whose daughter/ son absolutely wanted to come because of the reputation of the school and its athletic dominance.
And regardless of whether they wanted it or not, that elite recruiting..., often brought outstanding individuals to represent the University.
For your child, I will miss growing up in an era like this...
Besides, like you mentioned, have a child, often changes your perspective of life, as it should.
One thing I will miss... is that environment for those kids growing up.
Both my daughters both grew up during the Saban Dynasty. Going to their schools, for public events, you could watch how many students and athletes were impacted and influenced by those in the Alabama program.
I recall watching skits of young people imitating Saban over the years. And I've told the story before ... meeting at least three families on flights to Birmingham. Families' whose daughter/ son absolutely wanted to come because of the reputation of the school and its athletic dominance.
And regardless of whether they wanted it or not, that elite recruiting..., often brought outstanding individuals to represent the University.
For your child, I will miss growing up in an era like this...
Posted on 7/29/26 at 12:35 pm to Riseupfromtherubble
idk I am pretty amped about watching football. I can feel it in my plums.
Posted on 7/29/26 at 1:36 pm to Funky Tide 8
I'm excited, it's just the least excited about it I've ever been.
Apathy for me would be a 0/10
July 2008 was a 10/10
I'm at a 4 or 5 right now
Apathy for me would be a 0/10
July 2008 was a 10/10
I'm at a 4 or 5 right now
Posted on 7/29/26 at 1:48 pm to tattoo
quote:
to avert the decline of the University
You guys are about to elect a piece of shite Auburn scumbag as governor - a clown who taunted our players and allowed his merry group of thugs to steamroll members of the now defunct yell crew. I mean, just a few short years ago, the bastard held up 6 fingers when Auburn honored him.
If anyone thinks the University won't feel the effects of that, you're kidding yourself. We're about to take a major backseat to Auburn when it comes to having any kind of influence in Montgomery, shaping priorities, competing for state support, resources, etc. Which to be honest, his loyalty to AU makes no sense given how horribly they treated him in his last days. But he likely blames us as well for ruining his coaching career as his post-Auburn run was rocky.
This post was edited on 7/29/26 at 1:55 pm
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